- Date
- April 25, 2024, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Beach City, OH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N97517Stinson 108
- Defining event
- Emergency descent: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20240425003999A
- Case key
- 194190
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to the due to the pilot’s delayed application of carburetor heat.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that about one hour into the flight the engine rpm began to decrease. The rpm quickly worsened, and he applied carburetor heat, but the engine did not respond before losing all power. The pilot conducted a forced landing to rough terrain, during which the airplane struck a ditch, substantially damaging the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that loss of engine power was likely the result of carburetor icing. The weather reported at an airport about 13 nautical miles from of the accident site included a temperature of 14°C and a dew point 3°C. The calculated relative humidity at this temperature and dewpoint was 47 percent. Review of the icing probability chart contained within Federal Aviation Administration Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35 revealed the atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were "conducive to serious icing at glide power."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N97517
- Reported as
- Stinson 108
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 108-517
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 1,581
- Engine
- Franklin 150, 150 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 24, 2023 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- I74 · Urbana, OH
- Destination
- OH15 · Minerva, OH
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 8, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 894 total · 384 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- PHD, 13 nm away
- METAR
- KPHD 251853Z AUTO VRB04KT 10SM BKN047 14/03 A3028 RMK AO2 SLP257 T01390028
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 21, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.